Save after save, A+ after A+, 2024 Piedmont alumnus Johnny Matrona is the definition of student-athlete, having what it takes to excel on the field and in the classroom.
“During the season, it did become a little more difficult,” said Matrona, who was named USA South Defensive Player of the Year for his play in goal last spring for the conference runner-up lacrosse team. “Some days, I had to leave practice early or show up a little late, depending on the class. But overall for me, it was fairly easy to manage I was able to manage my classwork.”
Juggling classes and extracurriculars is a common yet difficult task for many college students. Obligations often overlap, forcing the student to choose between responsibilities. Students must figure out which obligations are the most important to be successful.
“I always tried my best to make sure I didn’t have to choose one over the other,” Matrona says. “For example, my sophomore year, we had to travel for playoffs, but the bus was set to leave during one of my final periods. Knowing this, me and some of my teammates were able to communicate with our professor and take the final early so we could make the bus.”
Lacrosse is especially tough as a spring sport because the playoffs always occur around finals. It is easy to get wrapped up in the team’s biggest games of the year and ignore the most important part of the academic year. But Matrona, who graduated with a degree in accounting and finance, ensured his academics always came first.
One of the benefits of being at a small school and on a small roster is being known as a student, as opposed to being just another person in a class. At larger schools, students have a tougher time making accommodations because professors have more students to worry about, and coaches have more players to worry about. Professors and coaches have an easier time working with their young men and women to fit their academic and athletic schedules at Piedmont and other small Division III schools.
“We always utilize, or make sure our guys know that we’re never missing class for practice so that there is no overlap there,” says men’s lacrosse head coach Tim Dunton. “You are going to miss some classes for travel, and you need to take that seriously and make sure your professors know what’s going on.”
On Coach Dunton’s team, there is no excuse for a lack of academic performance. While he mentions that the task may be more difficult, he emphasizes that the schoolwork comes first, and he works with his players to make sure they get what needs to be done. On the lacrosse team, team GPAs are the priority.
“Since I’ve been here, its [academics have] been a big piece of ours to raise our team GPA,” Dunton says. “We have a team GPA over 3.0, and I think guys like Johnny really took that to heart and helped our group undertake academics more seriously.”
In spring 2024, the team had 15 players on the AD Honor Roll List out of 33 on the roster. Dunton thinks leaders like Matrona, a team captain, had a big impact on this success.
Throughout his career, Matrona has been a leader on and off the field. He started 52 consecutive games dating back to his sophomore year. In his senior year, he led the team to the best record in program history at 14-3. After beating Methodist in a crucial USA South matchup, he became the program’s all-time wins leader. Matrona was named Defensive Player of the Week five times and eventually the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.
In the classroom, Johnny made the USA South All-Academic team for the third time in his senior year. At graduation, he was then announced valedictorian, the top academic performer of his class. This makes him the first valedictorian in Piedmont lacrosse’s history.
“Being a student-athlete means that you have some more responsibility on your plate,” Dunton says, being a former student-athlete himself. “There’s always going to be stress, and there’s always going to be some overlap, but I think the guys who are mature about that situation tend to be a lot more successful.”
